Television

California’s Napa Valley has a microclimate that produces world-famous wines, but what happens as the climate warms up? Vintners are using advanced technology to conserve water, while scientists are testing varieties that could replace the cool-climate Pinot Noirs of today.

Kandis Elliot is on the Botany Department staff at the University of Wisconsin, but she's not a scientist or professor. Elliot is an artist and transforms mere photographs of plants into lush, painterly artworks that educate as well as captivate.

Former astronaut Millie Hughes-Fulford is sending an experiment into space that could one day help travelers going to Mars and aging people here on Earth. She seeks to understand how a lack of gravity impacts our immune system.

Shark fin soup was once served at celebratory banquets in Chinese restaurants across California. But since a ban on shark fins went into effect in 2013, restaurants like Koi Palace, in Daly City, have been experimenting with alternatives.

Since the Darfur crisis began in 2003, women living in the refugee camps walked for up to seven hours outside the safety of the camps to collect firewood for cooking, putting them at risk for violent attacks. Now, researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have engineered a more efficient wood-burning stove, which is greatly reducing both the women's need for firewood and the threats against them.

Everybody loves chocolate, but did you know that small daily doses of dark chocolate are good for your health? Read the story and watch the video to learn about the precision engineering and chemistry behind the beloved treat.

Do other planets like Earth exist? Since it launched in 2009, NASA’s Kepler space observatory has revealed billions of Earth-size planets. Now scientists are looking for signs of water on these planets. Watch a video and read about their search.

Once nearly extinct, California condors are making a steady recovery. But a new threat– lead poisoning from old bullets– is slowing progress, leaving scientists between wildlife preservation and the politics of hunting.

Santa Barbara, Mendocino and San Benito counties will vote on hydraulic fracturing this November. San Benito activists were the first to qualify a ballot initiative to ban the controversial oil- and gas-extraction technique.